a. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to beverage cups and the like, and, more particularly to a method and apparatus for producing high quality coffee, tea and other beverages in an all-in-one disposable beverage container.
b. Description of Related Art
In the art, there presently exist a variety of devices for mixing and producing beverages in disposable or non-disposable containers.
Known disposable or non-disposable containers for making beverages and the like are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,269,736, 5,664,480, 5,441,752, 5,180,079, 4,806,369, 4,699,794, 4,619,830, 3,935,318, 3,796,813, 2,899,310, 2,766,796 and Des. 381,866, the respective disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, EP 1,169,957 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0083897.
Of the aforementioned known disposable or non-disposable containers, U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,736 ('736 Patent), discloses a disposable infuser 1 for brewing beverages within an associated container 2, (see FIGS. 1-4). The infuser includes a centrally located well portion 6 for receiving a charge of particulate flavoring material, such as tea leaves 9 and the like. As shown in FIG. 4, well 6 includes a filter portion 10 which has a plurality of openings 12 which are formed without scrap “flash” or waste by shearing a tab or flap of material away from the filter portion of the well or piercing the filter portion of the well with a needle-shaped or knife-shaped protrusion in the mold. The resulting tabs or punctures serve to keep the particulate flavoring material out of the brewed beverage. Although somewhat functional, the beverage container of the '736 Patent is limited in application to flavoring a liquid by tea or other such flavors, without having the capacity for multiple flavoring such as coffee, sugar, cream and the like, at predetermined or subjective quantities by an end-user. Moreover, as readily evident, the beverage container of the '736 Patent has limited mixing capability of the tea or other such flavoring, and even with the provision of a spoon or other such devices for mixing the flavoring, the container has limited capabilities of allowing the beverage to be mixed since the flavoring is disposed in a restricted area defined by well 6.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0083897 ('897 Application), discloses an instant coffee-brewing container S that includes a cup cover 4, a dripper 2, a filter 3, and a coffee-ground bag 5, all being packed into a package container B, (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The cup cover or dripper is detachably coupled to the top opening of a beverage cup so as to cover the top opening. The cup cover further includes an upwardly-projected drinking port 4′ with a hole at the center or one side of the cup cover. In order to use the coffee-brewing container of the '897 Application, the package container B is first opened, and then dripper 2 is coupled to beverage cup 1. Next, filter paper 3 is inserted into dripper 2, coffee grounds inside the coffee-ground bag 5 are fed into filter paper 3, and then hot water is poured into the cup so as to prepare the brewed coffee. As discussed above for the '736 Patent, the coffee-brewing container of the '897 Application is limited in application to flavoring a limited amount of coffee or tea provided in the container, without having the capacity for multiple flavoring such as coffee, sugar, cream and the like, at predetermined or subjective quantities by an end-user. Moreover, as readily evident for the '897 Application, the coffee-brewing container of the '897 Application has limited mixing capability of the tea or other such flavoring, even with the provision of a spoon or other such devices for mixing the flavoring.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,318 ('318 Patent), discloses an apparatus for brewing a beverage such as coffee or tea, which includes a disposable disc-shaped receptacle 12 containing a predetermined quantity of solid beverage material, (see FIG. 1). The flat lower surface of the receptacle contains a plurality of perforations 22 permitting a flow of hot water into the receptacle for brewing the beverage material. An actuating rod or stick 13 is attached to the membrane for manually flexing the membrane up and down during brewing. In use, a user places the receptacle into a cup of hot water and using the stick, manually flexes the membrane up and down inducing pressure variations inside the receptacle. These pressure variations suck and expel hot water through the perforations and circulate the water inside the receptacle and throughout the beverage material for brewing. Once mixed, the receptacle is removed from the cup and discarded when the liquid beverage reaches the desired strength. As discussed above for the '736 Patent and '897 Application, the coffee-brewing container of the '318 Patent is limited in application to flavoring a limited amount of coffee or tea provided in the container, without having the capacity for multiple flavoring such as coffee, sugar, cream and the like, at predetermined or subjective quantities by an end-user. The coffee-brewing container of the '318 Patent also has limited mixing capability of the tea or other such flavoring, due to the dynamics of liquid flow through disc-shaped receptacle 12.
It would therefore be of benefit to provide an all-in-one disposable beverage container which is more versatile in operation than the prior art beverage containers discussed above so that an end user can subjectively flavor coffee, tea and other such beverages, with sugar, cream and other such additives, as desired. It would also be of benefit to provide an all-in-one disposable beverage container which is cost-effective in design, which is simple and economical to manufacture, and which is sanitary in operation for mixing and disposing of used product.